If anyone's interested, the 7th John D. MacDonald Conference is set for October 22, 23 & 24 in Sarasota, FL (JDM's home town). I went to the last one (in 96) and had a hell of a good time. It's a pretty academic affair, but fun in spite of it.

dear paul,
i, for one loved john d. read everything he ever wrote, except some of the short stories, perhaps. i wish i could go to sarasota for the convention. where is it held, and how much does it cost? thanks for opening up a discussion for my favorite author.. i liked "the beach girls best of all the non-travis.. as for him, they were all great!

jbm - The conference was held this year at USF-New College & Marina Jack. I didn't go myself, but met some of the participants for drinks and found that the general consensus was that it was not done as well this year as in the past. It may, in fact, have been the last JDM conference. There is a movement afoot to stage a broader-based conference covering all Florida crime fiction, not just John D., here in Sarasota. We'll see.

On the subject of fave JDM stand-alones, there are just so many great ones that it's hard to name favorites. a few that no one should miss, though, are: The Crossroads, The Drowner, Slam the Big Door, Dead Low Tide, and Where is Janice Gantry? The last three, by the way, are set in and around a very thinly-disguised Sarasota.

Magnum may have antecedents, but Travis McGee was not one of them. Had you read any of the McGee books, you would know this. There is a guy who is trying to meld McGee and Magnum into a single character in a (hopefully by now terminated) just plain awful series set in Hawaii. The author's name is Knieff. His output is contemptible. Check it out. Might be what you're looking for.

I discovered J.D. MacDonald in the early 70's. I read all the Travis McGee books and many of his other books also. After reading the Randy Wayne White, Doc Ford series, I decided to read all the Travis McGee books again. I'm enjoying them a second time.